Just took off me pinny.

If you can't stand the heat, get out the galley!

I'll admit it; I'm absolutely exhausted. But very happily exhausted. It's not everyday in my job onboard Mariquita, that I get to cook all day long and that is definately what occured in the galley today. I am even a wee bit surprised at how well my little 'Force Ten' oven coped with it all.  By 'With it all', I mean, 70 mini pecorino and courgette scones, 90 sausage and apple rolls, 50 croustades and 2 ginormous cakes. Not to mention lunch for 8 and dinner for 7. I also made a huge bowl of salmon mousse for the scones and tapenade for the croustades. Phew.

Yummy apple and sausage rolls. And only 80 more to go!

I hope you'll forgive me if I don't put any recipes up tonight. I'll post you some pictures as evidence though and I'll promise to send some recipes soon. I had to sort of make the scone recipe up a bit. I couldn't find a suitable recipe in my small collection of books onboard (weight restriction) but having sampled a few of the little blighters, fresh out of the oven for research purposes, I can assure you that it is a fine recipe. And with my new-found sense of responsibility to record my recipes, I'm sure I've remembered it well.

Slice in half and add a dollop of salmon mousse. Garnish with a sprig of dill. Well, thats the idea anyway.

Mariquita's 100th birthday party is tomorrow after a day out sailing. Mariquita is looking fantastic for her big day. Sian, the stewardess, has been buffing and polishing as fast as her OCD will carry her. The booze is safely stored and my fridge is bulging at the seams. It's so much fun, throwing a party. But I may be pretty tired by the end of it all. I'll have 40 sandwiches to make in the morning for the crews lunch, the cake to decorate, canapes to prepare, a staysail to trim, lines to pull and champagne to drink. I suppose at some point in all that I'll have to try to put some lipstick on and perhaps a frock. And as we all know it's usually wise to get that done before champagne drinking starts in earnest.

But it's not everyday you're One Hundred years old! I wonder what Mariquita was doing, where she was and who was living onboard when she was 33...

Sleep well. I'll let you know how the party goes. Those pesky mosquitos will not be bothering me tonight!

Meatballs in Sauce - Lip-smackingly good!

It’s funny how all the little grammar lessons I learnt at school have come flooding back since I have been writing this blog. Well, I say that and you may be thinking the word ‘flooding’ is a bit strong. Perhaps ‘dribbling’ would be a more accurate description? However, my red and green underlined mistakes according to Word are becoming much less frequent. I like to think that I’m making my old English teacher proud. And hopefully not too shocked or worried. I’ll crack on.

If you had to choose one meal that you had to live off for the rest of your life, what would that be? It’s a very tough and probably an odd question but I made my chosen meal the other day for the crew and had to give you the recipe for Suzy’s Spicy Meatballs. Spicy meatballs in a rich and moorish tomato sauce with black olives, served on a bed of tagliatelle, a peppery rocket salad on the side, with lots of parmesan shavings and a glass of red wine. Absolute heaven. What else is there in life? I’m trying to think…nope, that’s it.

Now the key ingredient here is cumin. Not the most Italian of spices I know but it works and I simply can not make meatballs without cumin now. Well okay I could but I do get a bit stroppy. The cumin adds a real mellow depth and added ‘meatiness’ to the meatballs. A dilemma you might come across is whether to pop one in whole or politely break it up into a tidier mouthful. Though meatballs, sauce and long pasta is never going to be a polite meal is it? Expect to get through a few napkins, don’t wear white and enjoy flinging out some of those table manners for this one. Get stuck in. (Invisible exclamation mark right there)

For 5-6 people, you will need;

For the meatballs;

2 x 500g packs of minced beef                                                                       

1 tbsp dried oregano

look at those little rascals awaiting the pan.

2 tsp fine salt

1 tsp ground cumin

4 thick slices of white bread, crumbed (blitz in a food processor)

3 tbsp milk

Black pepper

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

For the tomato sauce;

2 onions, finely chopped

You guessed it, 1 tsp sugar

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

3 small dried birds eye chilli’s or 1 fresh hot chilli (or as much or as little as you please)

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 cans of tomatoes

A good handful of black olives in brine

A bunch of fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Method;

• Begin my making the tomato sauce. So that whilst you’re having fun making your meatballs, the sauce can quietly bubble away getting richer, a little thicker and even more delicious.

• In a frying pan gently sauté the finely chopped onions in a little oil. Sauté for about 3 minutes before adding the sugar and then for another 5 minutes so that the onions start to colour a little. Add the celery, garlic and chilli’s, and continue to sauté gently for another 5 minutes. Be careful not to catch the garlic; it’s so bitter if it burns. Give it all a little stir as it cooks and the heat low.

• Add 2 tbsp tomato puree and stir it into the vegetables, letting it have a little sizzle. Then add the 2 cans of tomatoes. If I have any left over red wine hanging about (a rare occurrence but has been known) then this will go in too.

• Season with salt and pepper and about 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. At this point I will also add the brine from the olives if there is any. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn down the heat and let it sit and simmer without a lid to reduce whist you crack on with the fun part.

• In a small bowl mix the breadcrumbs with the milk and leave to soak for a bit.

• Put your minced beef into a nice big bowl. For 2 packs of minced beef I add about 2 tsp salt. Minced beef does need a good seasoning so don’t be shy with the salt or your meatballs may end up being a little disappointing. Add the cumin, oregano, Worcestershire sauce and give it good long grinding of fresh black pepper.

• Add the soaked breadcrumbs and now it’s time to get your hands in there. Don’t mess about with trying to mix it all up with a spoon, it will take forever. Get both hands in and squelch it all together through your fingers, really mixing it all up well.

• The shaping bit is fun to do with kids and great to get them involved with dinner. Take walnut sized amounts and roll into balls. They really don’t have to be perfectly shaped, rustic is good. I like to make about 4-5 per person.

• You can chill them now at this point to help ‘set’ them, but if they have been rolled well then I do normally go straight ahead and start frying them in a pan and they have never broken up on me yet.

• So with your frying pan on a fairly high heat, add some sunflower oil to the pan and then add about 5-6 of your cute little meatballs at a time to sear them. Don’t add too many or they wont brown very well. I like to move them around every minute or so until they are browned all over and then I plop them straight into the tomato sauce. Keep going until all the meatballs are browned and in sitting happily in your sauce.

• Let the meatballs sit in the simmering tomato sauce for another 20 and then stir in the black olives. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

• When you’re ready to serve with a bowl full of steaming tagliatelli or spaghetti, rip up some fresh basil leaves for garnish. 

• Have some parmesan cheese ready for grating and a bottle of red ready for pouring.

If you are thinking of making this then I’m so excited for you. Let me know how they were please. 

Mariquita is officially 100 years old on Friday! We’re so proud of her and will be throwing a small dock party to celebrate. That’s after a day sailing around in the bay of Cannes. The race training has been going well and we’re all looking forward to our first regatta in Ajaccio in Corsica, starting on the 23^rd May. Would love for you to come along and see how we do.

So many birthdays this time of year. Niki, the bosun had one yesterday. We didn’t quite manage to get her thrown into the water as is the tradition. She put up too good a fight and I had no intention of going in with her. I did make her a 3 layered cake though. One blackberry sponge, one vanilla and one raspberry, sandwiched together with white chocolate icing and covered in strawberries. It was pretty good.

I’ll see you soon, hopefully wiping tomato sauce from your face and looking forward to another recipe to try out on your loved ones. I’ll let you know how the 100th Birthday celebration goes. And hopefully without a headache. See you soon.

 P.S My lemon-thyme plant is thriving so apparently they don't get sea sick.

Butternut, sage and Pancetta Tart. It's Deep.

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning in France. And to make it even more beautiful, we have the day off to enjoy it. I love spoiling myself on a Sunday morning with a cheeky breakfast, which today was a boiled egg with 2 pieces of buttered, toasted walnut bread. And although I had no agenda in mind I found myself at the market with my trusty trolley a little while later. You really do fit in with the crowd if you have a trolley in tow so no sniggering at the back please. And boy was there a Sunday crowd.

Today I had the time to enjoy it. I didn’t need anything and so therefore I bought a few things. No pressure to buy, so pleasure-purchasing ensued. I do think you’ll agree that a bulging bag of fat, dried Cep’s, teamed with a fragrant, potted lemon-thyme plant can lead to a pleasing list of dinner ideas. I’ll leave you to ponder that one and move on to ‘Roger’s Pie’, your recipe for today.

The crew attended a ‘Team-building’ course during the week (hence my absence). It was held at our Captain’s home in the French country-side, a great relief from living in the city and an enlightening, few days.

To make things easier for me, we had simple buffet lunches of French bread, cheese and ham’s and salad. But to add a little something warm and pleasing I had made 2 tarts in advance that needed simple heating and serving. Roger’s pie in 2 forms; original and vegetarian.

Roger Smithers was my Dad’s best friend and the Smithers family and our family grew up together. Roger very sadly died at the age of 58 from Prostate cancer. We held the wake at our house and I did the catering. I had planned to cater for 100 people and thought I had it all sussed and organised. But the night before the funeral, I had a small panic attack and decided that there wasn’t nearly enough food, especially if more than a hundred people turned up. Roger was a wonderful guy; 200 hundred people turned up.

It was a case of ‘make what I can from what’s in the house’ and thus ‘Roger’s Pie’ was invented. Quiche is easy enough to make and can feed a lot of people if you make lots of them, but I had only 4 eggs. So instead I made a huge batch of thick, white sauce and added my 4 eggs to that which filled 3 large tarts. It makes for a much creamier tart, without the ‘egginess’ of a quiche and suited the ingredients of the tart very well, being I think a little bit more ‘robust’. It set perfectly well too once cooled.

The filling was my favourite combination of roast butternut, sage, onion and cubetti de pancetta. The vegetarian version replaces the pancetta with feta cheese which gives the same ‘salty’ element to combine with the sweetness of the butternut. It really is such a goody, especially when made with homemade, wholewheat, shortcrust pastry, and it freezes so well. You must make this, you’ll love it.

For Roger’s Pie, you will need;

1 quantity of homemade, wholewheat pastry. (Or bought shortcrust, you know me, I love short-cuts)

1 quantity of white sauce made with whole milk.

2-3 eggs

1 butternut squash cut into thick wedges, skin left on.

2 medium onions, finely chopped

A bunch of fresh sage, around 15-20 leaves

1 pack of Cubetti de Pancetta (Italian lardons basically or use normal UK bacon lardons if you can’t find any)

A good grating of fresh nutmeg

Method;

• Begin by rolling out the pastry and lining your chosen tart tin. With shortcrust, like most pastries, it is not necessary to grease or flour the tart tin first, so just roll it out and bung it in there. Bake blind on gas mark 5 for 15 minutes. (Cut a piece of baking paper that lines the pastry and comes out and over the top edges of the pastry in its tin. Fill with baking beans or a bag of rice as I do, which stops the pastry from rising and the sides from collapsing in. Bake like this for 15 minutes.)

• Take out of the oven to remove the baking beans and paper and put back in the oven for another 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool a little. Leave the oven on for the butternut.

• While the pastry is cooking, and your white sauce is cooling, (recipe for white sauce in blog titled, ‘A Glamorous Lunch in Cannes’) roughly chop up the butternut-squash ready for the oven. Drizzle with a little sunflower or olive oil and season with salt and pepper in a baking tray, making sure they are not too cramped together. I do it this way because it’s a lot easier to peel the cooked butternut flesh out of the skins once it has cooked. It can be a lot of hard work peeling one of those little rascals when it’s raw.

• On a fairly high heat, fry the cubetti de pancetta in a small drizzle of sunflower or olive oil till cooked and starting to brown. Set aside.

• In the same pan, gently sauté your finely chopped onions in the bacon fat. Add some salt and pepper and ½ tsp sugar. Continue sautéing until the onion has just started to colour a little. Chop half of the sage leaves up finely and add to the onions, sautéing for another 3-5 minutes. Set aside with the Pancetta.

• When the butternut has roasted and is soft and smelling divine, cool a little before using a sharp knife to peel the flesh out of the skins and chopping, roughly into small bite-sized bits.

• Start to layer up the ingredients in the pastry shell, beginning with the sautéed onions and sage. Then add the pancetta and follow with the butternut.

• Add the beaten eggs to the cooled white sauce and add a good grating of fresh nutmeg. Stir well with a wooden spoon, perhaps giving it all bit of a beating to combine.

• Pour the white sauce over the onions, sage, pancetta and butternut, filling the tart as much as possible (I sometimes give it a good jiggle to ensure the white sauce has got to the bottom) and decorate with the remaining sage leaves.

• Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes. Leave to cool before serving but it is best left a little warm if you can. It reheats very well too.

Wow, that was a long one. It can be made in stages so that once you’re ready to make one you have the pastry case all cooked, ready to be filled and the white sauce prepped up to a day in advance. But it truly is such great tart to make and enjoy for lunch with a salad. Obviously with the vegetarian version, replace the Pancetta with a pack of feta cheese. I go for a whole pack and break it into big crumbly pieces on top of the butternut. It is super-delicious I promise.

The vegetarian version with feta cheese

I used to make this for a great deli I worked for in the Hamble, Hampshire and apparently some guy used to come in and have it for his breakfast every morning. I’m not sure I can say it’s good with coffee but I guess he thought so. Anyway, the crew loved both versions on our team building course. Oh yeah, I promised photos of our last sailing day, so here they are. As you can see, the weather was a little boisterous but great fun.

I’ll let you know what happens with the cep’s and lemon-thyme. I’m pretty excited.

I hope plants in pots don’t get sea-sick…

 

Natty and Matt on the wet side being very brave.

Enjoying the company of 'Halloween', another beautiful Fife design.

Spooning!

Make Your Own Kitchen Knife! I Did.

It’s peeing with rain today and though we were supposed to go out race training, it’s blowing about 50 odd knots out there, so we cancelled. I’m pleased. It’s a lot of hard work when it’s blowing and we get very wet and very tired. It can be exhilarating if it’s a good race with great competition but today we were just training and we’d have been the only ones out and we don’t want our mast to fall down unless in anger.

Actually we don’t want the mast to fall down at all so even in a race, if it get’s too much for our 100 year old, beautiful, Fife design, gaff rigged cutter – we’d go in. We’d run back home to port.

That’s not to say we haven’t pushed it. Last year’s racing at the Pendennis regatta in Falmouth had us harnessed on and life-jacketed up. The wet weather gear remained wet all week and the staysail team (Matty, my hard-working and trusty number 2) and I did a lot of our job underwater. Mind you, I think we saw a lot more air then Will and his runner’s team did. That was an awesome regatta and we held our own and more against the big-boy-schooners. We were brave.

So whilst down-below, dry and safe, I thought I’d tell you about my kitchen knife. (Blimey, sandwiches, her cabin drawers and now her knife – is she trying to get rid of us?) 

But really, stay! I made it myself. I did! And I really couldn’t recommend it highly enough as a one-off arts and crafts project. It’s really not that difficult, although I did get some very helpful guidance from my Fella who has made a few of his own rigging knives. He’s so clever, my Fella. As well as handsome, did I mention that already?

When you first use it for that true culinary purpose you designed it for, it is the most gratifying moment. Pride, I really can’t say more than that other than that you will be swelling with it.

My Knife. A sturdy cutting machine with a lovely rose wood handle and bronze rivets.

Being a ‘Global’ knife fan (weak wrists me, had the carpel tunnel operation done in both now) which are so lovely and light and sleek, I decided I needed something a bit more robust and solid. I’m not a fan of meat cleavers but wanted something of that calibre. So I designed my own ‘demi-cleaver/butchers knife’.

The steel I used is 440 grade, stainless-steel from the metal supermarket. The exciting bit is that this needs to be hardened by you, in your back garden in a fire. Cool eh?

The handle is made from rose wood and a small bit of ebony near the hilt. Rose wood is lovely and has a distinct smell.

So I chose my favourite design, drew it onto my piece of metal and cut that out with a hack-saw. That really didn’t take too long and wasn’t that hard to do surprisingly.  I then drilled 2 holes into the ‘tang’ to fix my handle on after it had been hardened. The trick is to sharpen your knife (I used an angle-grinder but in doing so you must make sure the metal stays below 150 degrees, or thereabouts.) but don’t sharpen it all the way. You finish off the sharpening after you’ve hardened the knife in your cool, homemade forge. Which could be a fire in a wheel-barrow. Hey, it worked.

Our knife hardening forge. Good excercise too.

So the Fella and I used a wheel-barrow as our forge. We put a hole in the bottom of the wheel-barrow and put a dinghy pump hose into the hole (everybody point at the yachties!) so that once we’d built a fire in the wheel barrow, we could pump a constant flow of air into the fire to get the heat right up.

So before this get’s way too boring and I lose you, (Hello? Hello, anybody there?) I’ll just say that you get your knife to a cherry-red colour which means it has reached the desired, hardened temperature and is now hard. You need to quench the knife as soon as it’s out of the fire, in water or oil. I used oil. Then you can complete sharpening it and put on your handle with rivets. I shaped the handle once it was riveted onto the knife, again with an angle grinder (the best tool ever).

And there we have it, see easy. Actually now I’ve written that down I can honestly say I won’t be making one again but also that I will have this knife forever and feel so good every time I use it. Especially when it’s to butcher a whole, road-kill, wild-boar we picked up off the road during the winter. (Wild-Boar recipe described in blog titled ‘A Week Late!’) That was a very special moment for me and my homemade knife.

Road-kill and a handmade knife. Cool.

So have a go, why not? You could always email me for more detailed instruction and I’ll just ask George, the expert.

Apparently we’re still on for race training tomorrow. Let’s hope we get some of what you guys are getting in the UK this Easter weekend. Here we are in the South of France, the sunny Cote D’Azur. Mmm.

Happy Easter! See you soon.

Quick Moroccan Lamb and Cous Cous

Generally speaking, I’m not much of a planner. Planning entails writing lists and sticking to something. I’d say I was a bit more spontaneous (my mum would say, unorganised). My ‘planning ahead’ is doing a weekly shop in the supermarket and picking up some of what looks good, fresh and in season. And then taking it from there.

I begin cooking the crew lunch after morning ‘Smoko’ (coffee break) this the moment I will look in the fridge and make a decision as to what is on the menu that day. Sometimes I may start cooking and not be absolutely sure where it’s all going. I think the crew have learnt not to ask until about half an hour before I serve it, or the response they could get can go; ‘um, well, it’s going to be mushroomy I think, with some tarragon and possibly some potatoes, so maybe a frittata but could always be a pasta…I’m not really sure yet.

Some might find this stressful but I find it keeps me on my creative toes, keeps the menu fresh and I haven’t repeated many meals so the crew don’t get bored with my cooking; a risk that comes from cooking for the same people every day. Mind you I say this and they may well all be pretty bored of my cooking. Bless ‘em though, they’re doing a good job of hiding it. Thanks guys.

So I did actually plan this recipe ahead, a rare occurrence. I had even cooked it last year I think and thought it would be a good one for the blog because it’s easy, quick, very tasty and though I hate to use the word ‘cheap’ with reference to my cooking, it is. Let’s say budget friendly shall we? That sounds a bit less ‘Oliver Twist’.  I guess writing this blog is helping me become more organised. Oh dear.

I was lucky enough to find a reasonably priced shoulder of lamb for sale and decided to do a Moroccan lamb casserole with couscous. Please don’t switch off just because I said couscous. So many people tell me it’s dull and they don’t like it, but you can make it sooooo delicious I promise.  The crew loved this one (again) and they’re big, strong sailor types so don’t be afraid of the couscous. Love the couscous! 

Morrocan Lamb with couscous

And so for my second meat recipe of this entire blog so far, you will need;

A shoulder of lamb, boned, or leg of lamb would do, or shanks.

2 onions peeled and sliced roughly

2 tsp honey

5 carrots peeled and cut into chunks

All lined up and ready to go. Thats not 5 spice by the way, its cumin.

2 sticks of celery cut into chunks

2 aubergines cut into chunks

3 cloves of garlic, crushed                 

3 tbsp ground almonds               

3 tsp cumin

3 tsp coriander

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp mint sauce or jelly

1 tsp of your homemade Harissa paste (See blog titled ‘A Store Cupboard must have’)

2 tbsp plain flour

1 pint of homemade chicken or lamb stock or use stock cubes if that’s what you have.

I can of drained chick peas

Couscous, wholemeal, medium or whatever is your favourite

Handful of raisins or chopped, dried apricots

½ tsp turmeric

Chicken stock or vege stock

Fresh coriander and mint

Method;

• First begin by searing the lamb in a little sunflower oil. Don’t put too much meat in the pan at once, or it’ll lose its heat and the meat will stew instead of brown.

• Put the lamb aside once it’s all browned and start sautéing the onions, carrots celery and aubergine all at the same time. Told you this was quick and easy.

• Once you’ve stir fried the vege’s for a bit, add the garlic and all the spices and let the heat work on the spices for a few moments.

• Next add the Harissa paste and mint sauce, honey and the flour, let it all combine and then slowly start adding the stock, incorporating all the flour each time you add some stock.

• Season with salt and pepper, add the ground almonds and chick peas then bring to the boil. Once it has come to the boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer very, very gently for an hour or longer if you have it with a lid on.

• For the couscous (I rarely weigh this and go by sight which makes it quicker) put the couscous and a small knob of butter or blob of olive oil into a bowl. Add a little salt, ½ tsp turmeric and some harissa paste if you wish and stir to combine. I put some golden raisins in too but you could add dried apricots or prunes. Pour in boiling stock or water till it sits above the level of the couscous by about 1cm. Put on a heavy plate or cling film to seal and leave for about ten minutes.

• When your nearly ready to serve, you can stir into your couscous some toasted flaked almonds and the chopped fresh coriander and mint. Lovely.

• Taste and adjust the seasoning of the lamb accordingly and serve with the couscous and some flat breads if you wish.

When it comes to everyday food it really needn’t be any more complicated than that but also needn’t be dull or repetitive. This lamb dish is so tasty and cosy but with a light summer lift when served with the couscous and all its fresh herbs. All nutty and fruity.

Any left-over couscous can be stuffed into half peppers later on in the week with some spices, cheese and baked for lunch. Sweet.

As I write this the sky is beginning to cloud over.We’re sailing again tomorrow and the weathers looking a wee bit boisterous so we could be getting wet. I decided on cherry tomato, mozzarella and pesto wraps and smoked mackerel and tuna mayonnaise baguettes. That should keep them happy if it's a hard day out on the water.  


Don't worry Mummy, I'll be wearing my harness. Standard issue on our boat and I tested my harness out last year at the Pendennis regatta in Falmouth so I know it works. All good fun! I promise to take lots of photos. Thanks for reading and see you next time.

It Could Make Or Break Me.

Roast veg awaiting spicy hoummus for my vege option sandwich filling.

Sandwiches. You can’t escape this one I’m afraid. You see, I did some figuring out and a few sums, something I never do lightly or for fun. And yet I thought I needed to do this in order for you to understand why sandwich fillings are a big thing in a typical race season for me. Then, it’ll be done with and I will never, ever talk about it again. (lying).

This year we are racing in 8 regattas. Regattas are typically 4-5 days long and we train before each regatta for at least 2 days. Everybody on board has 2 sandwiches each with a choice of 2 different fillings and (don’t worry it’ll be over very soon) there are usually between 23-28 people on board.

Thus! I will be making around 2920 sandwiches this year. Yipee!

George on the bow.

Natty working on the bow sprit

 Now I’m sure there are people reading this thinking;  ‘So what?’, and you're right, this new insight you have into my job is really not that impressive. Its just that each time I'm 'sandwiching', I’ll be making 60 sandwiches in ,hopefully, one hour then launching myself up on deck to pull up sails and work the staysail (sometimes underwater), work many different lines under speed and in all weathers, then when the race is over, lowering said sails before quickly popping myself back down below to change out of soggy gear, cut up left over sandwiches, join in enthusiastically with a race de-brief then start dinner for the crew, canapés and dinner for any guests we may have and begin on my sandwich fillings for the next day….and now draw breath.

folding sails

So there you have it. I do know I’m not alone in this highly advanced and technical area of yacht chefing. John a brilliant chef who worked on ‘Eleanora’, a large and very pretty schooner, has just retired from doing exactly this. I think he’s not missing it.

Cheese and Pickle. Who’d have thought it but this one is a life saver especially if I team it up with a ‘wild card’ filling like smoked mackerel and prawn mayo (lots of lemon and black pepper and chopped parsley) or even egg mayonnaise. Egg mayo is my favourite but sadly it’s not for everyone and is therefore a ‘wild card’ sandwich.

Roast beef and horseradish teamed with rocket in a wrap will bring you marriage proposals as will Chinese chicken (with hoisin sauce, thin rice noodles and bean sprouts all packed into a chicken wrap).

Basically, most things you can put on a plate, you can put in a sandwich. But look, it’s my second race season aboard the good ship Mariquita, and I’m after inspiration. So any favourite sandwich filling ideas would be gratefully accepted.

I’ll leave you with that one and hope as much as you do that my next blog will be a little more interesting and useful. I put some photos in of our last training sail to help it go down a little easier. Hope it worked.

Phew! Glad that’s over with. Thanks for reading, see you soon and remember, I need hearty sandwich fillings for lots of hungry, rope pulling sailors. I do so enjoy those marriage proposals.  Cheers!

 

This is what I crawl over to get to my galley at the end of the day.

 If its been a long, wet sail then this is all pretty soggy just to add to the romance of it ...

view at the end of the spinnaker pole.

Homemade Harissa!

I feel it is my duty, as well as a pleasure of course, to add to my must-pass-on recipes this Harissa paste. It isn’t my recipe and I take no credit for it, for it is my Fella, the First Mate aboard the good ship Mariquita, who makes it. I just use it copiously in my cooking and sneakily accept the credit then. I take it where I can get it.

The recipe was passed down from the last chef before me on Mariquita, Emily Kenyon who now lives in N.Z with her hubby Robyn and beautiful baby, Theo. So Thanks for this one Emily, it brings a lot of joy to the crew still.

It is a paste of rich, dark spice. It is a burst of mouth watering heat and exotic flavours, its… well it’s full of chilli and garlic. The crew like it so much they practically smear it onto their toast in the mornings. You can make it as hot as you like, if you're one of those, or use it in many a recipe for added spice and flavour. I find it makes great fajhitta’s when stir-fried with chicken and peppers and served with tortillas. Or mix in with cous-cous, chick-peas and dried apricots and serve with roast lamb. Basically it is a store cupboard must-have and lasts for ages.

                                 But do be aware. Like a woman in her thirties, it gets hotter with age.

You need to know that it took some gentle persuading to be allowed to give you this one. The recipe has been adapted and perfected by the Fella who takes huge pride and care when making it.So do take full advantage  of this rare and unexpected opportunity to spice up your store cupboard life!

Here it is boys and girls. I will say this only once;

For 3-4 jars worth, you will need;

50g whole coriander seeds

50g whole cumin seeds

30g whole caraway seeds

50g dried chillis

6 garlic cloves

3 tbsp Salt

Olive oil

Method

• Begin by soaking the chilli’s in a bowl of hot water till soft. (10-15 mins)

• Toast the coriander, cumin and caraway seeds in a large dry frying pan till they start to become very fragrant. About 2 minutes.

• Put the toasted seeds, garlic and the salt into a blender and pulse until well combined but don’t puree.

• When the chilli’s have softened add them to the mixture and adding a good glug of olive oil, about a cup, whizz again.

• Spoon into jars and add a dash of olive oil over the top so that it keeps before putting the lids on.

We went out for our first proper sail train today with about 10 very helpful extra training crew to put our numbers up to 22. Up went the main, the gaffed topsail, staysail, jib and even the jib top went up in stops. It was great to know that even though we haven’t done it since October of last year, it’s a bit like riding a bicycle, you never forget.

We’re out again tomorrow and I think I might have to tell you about racing and sandwiches. Sandwiches are a big and very important part of any race day to all those big, hungry, strong sailors out there. There is even a technique to eating French baguette sandwiches every day for a whole regatta without ripping the roof of your mouth to shreds.

So if your dying to know what that all important, baguette-eating mastery might be then tune in soon for your next addition of 33 Degrees. Cheers!